308 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
his country’s freedom till his last breath. Habib should go and tell his
countrymen to continue the fight for India’s freedom and that India
would be free, and before long. At about nine that evening, Netaji’s
mortal end came, peacefully.^9
A devastated Habib asked the Japanese to fly Netaji’s body to Singa-
pore, or to Tokyo if Singapore was out of bounds. They promised to
try, but later reported practical dif fi culties in doing so. Under those
circumstances, Habib had to consent to a cremation in Taipei. The cre-
mation took place on August 20; Netaji’s ashes were placed in an urn
and kept in the Nishi Honganji temple, close to the hospital. On Sep-
tember 5, Habib boarded an ambulance plane in Taipei with Netaji’s
mortal remains, on his journey to Japan. Ayer, unable to come to terms
with the loss of the leader he adored, put his hands on Habib’s shoul-
ders and begged despairingly, “Colonel Saheb, for heaven’s sake tell me
the truth!” With tears in his eyes, Habib replied: “Ayer Saheb, I am ter-
ribly sorry that all that I have told you is the dreadful truth.”^10
The forty or so Indian cadets whom Netaji regarded as his sons kept
continuous vigil over the urn for three days in Rama Murti’s house.
The urn was then taken to Mrs. Sahay’s house, where prayers were of-
fered for another three days. On September 14, the urn was taken to
the Renko- ji, a small Buddhist temple in the Suginami district of To-
kyo. The priest of that temple, Reverend Mochizuki, conducted a fu-
neral ceremony that was attended by Ayer, Rama Murti, his brother
Jaya Murti, Rama Murti’s wife, the Indian cadets in Tokyo, and repre-
sentatives of the Japanese Foreign Office and War Office. Habibur Rah-
man was unable to attend, since he had been summoned for interroga-
tion by the occupying American forces. The Indians returned to the
temple on September 18, a month after Netaji had breathed his last,
to offer floral tributes, and again on October 18, to pray for the de-
parted soul.^11
Ayer, Habib, and the Murti brothers met almost ev ery day during
that sad autumn in Tokyo. As he “sat on a bench under the tall trees in
the Omiya Park [Tokyo], day after day, with the Bible in hand,” Ayer
“read and re- read the Acts.” “I prayed,” he wrote, “for the strength of
Peter, and I prayed for an opportunity to bear humble and truthful
testimony to Netaji’s miraculous achievements.” His prayer was an-